Systems and methods for providing financial instruments including contrary positions

ABSTRACT

A market for trading hedged instruments is provided. The market includes at least one hedged instrument having a value based at least on a first position on at least a first tradable instrument and a second position on at least a second tradable instrument. The second position is contrary to the first position.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/329,103 (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0220865), filed Dec. 23, 2002, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/343,885, filed Dec. 26, 2001, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in there entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates in general to tradable financial instruments, and more particularly, to systems and methods for providing financial instruments including contrary positions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Investments having potential for large returns often involve some element of risk. Many approaches have been used to hedge against or otherwise manage risk associated with such investments. One well known way to reduce such risk is through the diversification of investments. In theory, diversification of investments applies the law of averages in order to reduce risk from multiple independent sources.

many times however, it is possible to hedge against a first position, such as a market commitment to a tradable asset, for example, by undertaking a second position that may share some common risk factors or elements with the first. In doing so, investors may be presented with different options to hedge against the risk associated with a given position. For instance, an individual interested in investing in a particular stock may be unwilling to bear potential losses beyond a particular level. Since the price of the stock could drop at any time to undesirable levels, such an investment inherently carries an element of risk. To hedge against such risk, the investor may purchase both the stock and a put option. The put option may give the investor the right to sell the stock at a fixed exercise, or strike, price up until a given expiration date. If the stock price drops below the strike price, the investor may execute the put option and profit the difference between the exercise price of the put option and the market price of the stock at the time the put option is executed. In this manner, the investor may protect himself against the risk (and the associated losses) that the stock will decrease in price below the strike price of the put option. Thus, it can be seen that an investor may hedge risk by combining a buy position on a security with the right to exercise a contrary sell position on that same security.

Not only do hedged positions decrease risk, they can be used to ensure a sale that will substantially limit losses. An investor may purchase a stock and sell a call option giving the option buyer the right to buy the stock at an exercise price by a given date. For example, suppose a pension fund holds 1,000 shares of stock with a current price of $55 per share and intends to sell all 1000 shares if the stock price hits $60 per share. By selling $5 calls on all 1,000 shares, each having an exercise price of $60, the fund can make $5,000 in revenues. If the stock price falls, the call options will not be executed and thus the fund's losses due to the fallen stock price will be reduced by the $5,000 revenues from the sale of the call options. If the stock price rises above $60 (say, to $70 per share) and the call options are exercised, the fund has not lost any potential profits since the fund originally intended to sell its shares at $60 per share.

The examples provided above illustrate how different positions may be combined to hedge against risk and/or create profit opportunities. However, in order to engage in such trades, traders must be well-informed about market conditions to anticipate such opportunities, and must also be able and willing to undertake such commitments. In addition, in order to obtain a particular level of risk protection or profit margin, significant capital and firm commitments are often required, as well as various transaction costs, margin requirements and/or credit and credibility checks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, systems and methods for providing real-time internet balance transfers are provided. In general, hedged instruments that combine contrary positions on one or more other tradable instruments are provided. The hedged instruments may be more liquid and require less transaction costs than separately undertaking the same contrary positions on the tradable instruments that make up the hedged instruments.

According to one embodiment, a market for trading hedged instruments is provided. The market includes at least one hedged instrument having a value based at least on a first position on at least a first tradable instrument and a second position on at least a second tradable instrument. The second position is contrary to the first position.

According to another embodiment, another market for trading hedged instruments is provided. The market includes at least one hedged futures contract having a value based on an index of positions on a plurality of tradable instruments. The positions include a first position on a first tradable instrument and a second position on a second tradable instrument. The second position is contrary to the first position.

According to yet another embodiment, a method for providing a hedged instrument is provided. The method includes identifying a first position on a first tradable instrument and a second position on a second tradable instrument, in which the second position is contrary to the first position. The method further includes undertaking the first position and the second position and creating a hedged instrument including the first position and the second position.

Various embodiments of the present invention may benefit from numerous advantages. It should be noted that one or more embodiments may benefit from some, none, or all of the advantages discussed below.

One advantage of the invention is that this and other objects are accomplished in accordance with the principles of the present invention by providing hedged instruments that may trade between providers and participants in a market—i.e., an exchange in which securities are bought and sold. The hedged instruments preferably combine contrary positions—i.e., two or more positions that may realize opposing outcomes—with respect to already established instruments. Such positions include long and short positions on instruments such as securities, options, currencies, commodities, etc. The provider of such hedged instruments may remain committed to the readily available instruments unless he or she transfers the readily available instruments to another party. The hedged instrument provider may charge a fee for providing such a service and undertaking such a commitment. The participants in the trading of the hedged instrument commit to that instrument per se, and need not commit to the positions on the readily available instruments. Other participants may then trade such hedged instruments with interested parties, committing only to the positions undertaken on the hedged instrument. The present invention is presented in the context of select securities and/or their derivatives.

Other technical advantages will be readily apparent to one having ordinary skill in the art from the following figures, descriptions, and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention and for further features and advantages, reference is now made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example market in which hedged and available instruments may be traded in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a chart illustrating the payoffs associated with the long and short positions on two bonds over time in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example transaction of a hedged instrument that includes the contrary positions of FIG. 2 in accordance an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a chart illustrating the returns and profits associated with a combination of options versus price in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example transaction of the hedged instrument that includes the contrary positions of FIG. 4 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an example method for providing a hedged instrument in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Example embodiments of the present invention and their advantages are best understood by referring now to FIGS. 1 through 6 of the drawings, in which like numerals refer to like parts.

This invention relates to systems and methods for providing hedged tradable financial instruments that can be traded in a market. The hedged tradable instruments may include contrary positions on readily available financial instruments.

In an example of a typical investment scenario, an investor buys an instrument such as a stock or a bond, for example, and sells it after some time. This is an example of a long position that is held by the investor who purchases the instrument. To obtain a short position, an investor borrows an instrument from a lender, such as a broker, for example, and immediately sells the instrument to another buyer. After some time, the same investor may then purchase the instrument (or another instance of the same instrument, such as another share of the same stock, for example), hopefully at a lower price than the price at which he sold the borrowed instrument, and return the instrument to the lender, thus covering his or her position while hopefully retaining a profit.

By combining contrary, or at least partially contrary, positions in such instruments, an investor may protect him or herself from at least some of the risk associated with undertaking a single position on such instruments. Several sources of uncertainty may introduce elements of risk against which an investor may want to be protected. For example, such risks may be caused by general economic conditions such as the business cycle, changes in the inflation rate, changes in the interest rates, changes in the exchange rates, varying market conditions, and so on. Other sources of risk may relate to the actual company or companies issuing assets or other financial instruments, such as credit or default risk.

A hedged instrument may be provided which includes, or is at least partially based on, a number of individual positions such as those described above, including positions which are at least partially contrary to each other. An investor may trade such an instrument without committing to the individual positions upon which the instrument is based. Thus, in some embodiments, the investor may reduce transaction costs, such as trade commissions, since the investor may enter into a hedged position against a prevailing risk while only paying commissions on a single trade.

FIG. 1 depicts a market 101 for hedged instruments and a market 102 for readily available instruments. Hedged instruments that are created through, or based on, combinations of contrary positions may be traded in market 101, whereas instruments on which such contrary positions are based may be traded in market 102. Thus, in some embodiments, hedged instruments 111 and 151 may be traded in market 101 and available instruments 112, 122, and 132 may be traded in market 102. Available instruments 112, 122, and 132 may include any financial instrument that is available to be traded in a market, such as, for example, securities (such as stocks or bonds, for example), options, futures contracts, currencies, and commodities, as well as tradable funds, such as index funds, sector funds, or sub-sector funds, for example.

As shown in FIG. 1, market participants 131, 141, and 142 may be potential traders, investors, speculators, brokers, or a firm consisting of any combination of traders, investors, speculators and/or brokers, or any other entity suitable to participate in a trading market. Provider 121, which may create hedged instruments that include, or are based on, contrary positions on other tradable instruments may be a brokerage firm, an investment bank, or any other entity suitable to create and/or issue a financial instrument.

Provider 121 may hold contrary positions on instruments 112 and 122, which may pertain to the same class of instruments. As used throughout this document, the term contrary positions is intended to include positions which are directly, indirectly, fully, or at least partially contrary to each other. In some embodiments, instruments 112 and 122 may be related. For example, instruments 112 and 122 may be the same instrument, instances of the same instrument, instruments pertaining to the same class of instruments or instruments within the same or similar investment sector. Furthermore, one of instruments 112 and 122 may be a derivative of the other. For example, instrument 122 may be a put option on instrument 112 which is a stock. Provider 121 may create instrument 111 by combining contrary positions with respect to already established instruments 112 and 122, as well as various positions on one or more additional tradable instruments.

FIG. 1 shows an example trade of hedged instrument 111 between participant 131 and provider 121 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, provider 121 undertakes positions with respect to instruments 112 and 122 and provides instrument 111 for trading. Thus, provider 121 may trade in both markets 101 and 102. Participant 131 may buy instrument 111 in exchange for a price, which may be the net worth of the combined positions in addition to a possible fee for the services provided by provider 121.

In this exchange, participant 131 does not undertake any position with respect to instruments 112 or 122. Instead, participant 131 undertakes a commitment in hedged instrument 111. Participant 131 may then trade instrument 111 with any participant 141 in market 101. Provider 121 may also trade instruments 112 and 122 with any other participant 141 or 142, thereby transferring the commitment to instruments 112 and 122 to such purchasing participant 141 or 142. In some embodiments, markets 101 and 102 may completely, or at least partially, overlap such that hedged instruments 111 and 151 and instruments 112, 122, and 132 may be traded among the same entities. Through such trading, liquidity may be created in both markets 101 and 102.

The following are examples of hedged positions that relate to bonds, stocks, and options, according to various embodiments of the present invention.

Some investors may wish to simultaneously undertake contrary positions, such as long and short positions on different types of bonds issued by the same corporation. Such bonds may have different maturity dates, therefore selling at different prices. By longing one type of corporate bond (in other words, buying a first corporate bond) while shorting another corporate bond (in other words, selling a second corporate bond) with a different maturity date than the first, an investor may create protected profit opportunities based on the future performance of the company issuing the bonds.

An example of undertaking contrary positions on different bonds is provided as follows. Assuming that among the several types of bonds a particular corporation provides, two particular types of bonds are currently trading. The first bond is selling at 70 cents on the dollar with a maturity date of 2004, while the second bond is selling at 60 cents on the dollar with a maturity date of 2007. Both bonds may pay the same 10% yearly interest. The 2007 bond sells at a larger discount since it matures three years after the 2004 bond and thus carries more credit risk. A speculator who believes the issuing corporation is at risk of defaulting on its bonds in the future may wish to short one or more of the company's bonds. However, this may involve undertaking large risks due to the binding commitment to deliver interest coupons as well as the par value of the bond at maturity. Moreover, if the price of the bond does not drop in the future, the speculator is faced with buying back the same kind of bond to cover his or her position at a high price, thus incurring significant losses.

Instead, the speculator may undertake a long position on the 2004 bond and a short position on the 2007 bond. In other words, the speculator may long the 2004 bond and short the 2007 bond. Such an investment strategy may offer significant profit opportunities in the case that the corporation defaults or its bonds devaluate, especially after the year 2004 since the 2004 bond will have matured and paid the speculator its par value of $1000. Moreover, the yearly interest payments of $100 to which the speculator may be committed with respect to the 2007 bond will be offset by the $100 yearly coupons received from longing the 2004 bond.

The following example illustrates one embodiment of a hedged instrument according to the present invention. A trader may undertake a long position on the 2004 bond and a short position on the 2007 bond at the end of the year 2001. As shown in FIG. 2, which plots the various payoffs associated with such a scheme versus time, the trader would have to pay $700, denoted by negative payoff 201, for the long position in return for $600, denoted by payoff 202, from the short position in the same starting year 2001. Over the next three years, the trader will expect to receive $100 in yearly coupons 210 on the 2004 bond and incur $100 in yearly coupons 220 on the 2007 bond. Once the 2004 bond reaches maturity, the trader will expect to receive the $1000 par value 203 associated with the 2004 bond, while maintaining payment of coupons 220 until the year 2007, at which time the trader will be obligated to pay par value 204 of $1000.

After the year 2004, the trader may wait until the 2007 bond maturity date and pay par value 204, but may be better off covering his or her short position. In case the corporation devalues, the trader may buy back a 2007 bond at a gain due to the devaluation of the corporate 2007 bond.

According to the present invention, that same trader may act as an instrument provider selling a hedged instrument that provides a payoff corresponding to the combined payoffs of the long and short positions discussed above. At the same time, the trader undertakes both long and short positions on the 2004 and 2007 bonds respectively.

FIG. 3 illustrates the transaction of the hedged instrument 111 from combining the aforementioned long and short positions. An investor or participant 131 may buy the security issued or sold by the trader or provider 121 at an agreed upon price 310 that may cover the total costs incurred by provider 310, in addition to a fee for providing such a service.

Price 310 may consist of net present value (NPV) 312 of the total payments and payoffs involved with longing the 2004 bond and shorting the 2007 bond, plus service fee 314. NPV 312 may correspond to the net payoffs −$100, $1000, −$100, −$100, and −$1100 received during the years 2001, and 2004 through 2007. NPV 312 may be evaluated at an agreed upon discount rate. E.g., if the discount rate is assumed to be %5, NPV 312 would amount to about −$220. Therefore, the cost of such an investment to provider 121 may be calculated by the absolute value of NPV 312, which is less expensive than buying one of the two bonds, due to the offsets from the combined contrary positions.

In return for the investment, participant 131 may receive a portion of the net capital gain realized once provider 121 has covered his or her short position with respect to the 2007 bond. If the issuing corporation defaults or if its bonds devaluate, the substantial gain realized by provider 121 may be transferred to participant 131 as payoff 320. Otherwise, the gains and losses from the contrary positions substantially offset each other, and payoff 320 may be a relatively small negative number. In that case, provider 121 may charge participant 131 the value of the net capital loss. In any a case, provider 121 secures an income from participant 131, while participant 131 is given an opportunity to make significant profits at a relatively low cost, without committing to any position. Participant 131 may also trade instrument 111 with other interested parties. Provider 121 may also trade the bonds individually.

A combination of two or more call options (or two or more put options) on the same stock with different exercise prices, in which one call may be bought and one sold, is known as a money spread. A money spread is another example of two contrary positions on the same instrument, namely a share of stock. A first call option is bought at an exercise price of $50 for $5, whereas a second call having the same maturity date as the first, is sold (written) at a higher exercise price of $60 for $3.

The payoff of this combined position is the difference between the values of the bought and written calls. FIG. 4 plots the return and profit on a hypothetical money spread versus the stock price. Bold line 410 in FIG. 4 represents the money spread payoff whereas dotted line 412 represents the money spread profit from undertaking the contrary positions described above. FIG. 4 illustrates three possible outcomes: the low-price region 401, the middle-price region 402, and the high-price region 403. If the stock price is less than $50 in region 401, none of the options are exercised because whoever buys the stock at the exercise price would be paying more than what the stock is worth. In this case, the profit of such an investment would be −$2 from selling the second option at $3 and buying the first at $5. It should be noted that this negative portion of $2 profit is fixed no matter the stock price level.

On the other hand, if the stock price is greater than $50 but less than $⁶⁰, as shown in region 402, the first option is exercised while the second is not. The entity who bought the first call has the right to buy the stock at $50, which is less than what the stock is worth. The same entity can then immediately sell the stock at the higher stock price and make a net profit shown in region 402.

If the stock price is greater than $60 in region 403, both options are exercised because of the capital gains realized by both entities who bought the first and second calls. The entity owning the first call buys the stock realizing a capital gain whereas the entity owning the second call buys back the stock from the former at the same price. The former investor's payoff is therefore fixed at $10 with a profit of $8. These figures are constant as long as the stock price is at any level greater than or equal to $⁶⁰, as shown in region 403.

The previously described scheme is also known as a bullish spread, because the payoff either increases or is unaffected by stock price increases. One motivation for a bullish spread may be that the investor buying the first call would rather capture some fixed profit (at the minimal risk of losing a relatively small amount) than purchase the stock itself when he or she believes one option is overpriced relative to another. If the stock price goes up, the investor locks the spread.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a trader may invest in a money spread as described above and shown in FIG. 4, by buying the first call and selling the second. FIG. 5 illustrates the transaction of the hedged instrument 151 from combining the aforementioned positions on the same stock. The trader or provider 121 may issue instrument 151 which results in payoff 520. Payoff 520 may be the difference between the stock price and the lower exercise price in case the stock price falls below the lower exercise price, or the difference between both exercise prices, namely $10, in case the stock price exceeds the higher exercise price. Provider 121 may sell instrument 151 to participant 131 at price 510.

Price 510 may be the net price of how much it cost provider 121 to undertake the contrary positions, in addition to a fee for providing such a service. Price 510 may be the $2 price difference 512 between the two calls plus service fee 514.

Combinatory schemes such as the ones described above may be advantageous since they may give interested parties the opportunity to virtually participate in such contrary positions, without having to bind themselves to such positions. Such investors may not meet certain credit requirements in order to short an asset, since shorting essentially implies selling something one would have to borrow. Moreover, these hedged instruments would attract more investors, which will provide the market for such hedged instruments as well as markets for readily existing instruments with more liquidity. As a result, such instruments become less expensive to trade. In addition, commissions may be reduced since a provider may be able to obtain the two contrary positions at a lower commission than other investors, therefore saving at least a portion of the commissions involved in both positions.

Potential investors need not even explore different possibilities of combining such positions since such hedged instruments are provided by other traders who create them. Furthermore, the invention may provide accounting advantages and opportunities for companies to restructure their balance sheets. For example, the virtual positions undertaken need not show up as individual positions on a buyer or seller's balance sheet, making the combined positions undertaken on the actual instruments transparent to at least one of the traders of such hedged instruments.

FIG. 6 shows flow chart 600 for providing a tradable instrument by combining contrary positions on one or more established instruments. At step 610, two or more contrary positions on one or more tradable instruments may be identified by a provider—i.e., the party wishing to create a tradable instrument. The provider may then undertake the identified positions at step 620, and create or issue an instrument that offers a payoff that combines the payoffs of the contrary positions at step 630. The provider may then sell the hedged instrument to another party at step 640, collecting the net worth of the combined positions in addition to a service fee. The provider may also buy back the hedged instrument if desired or when at least one of the undertaken positions is recalled. The provider may also simultaneously trade the instruments on which the positions were undertaken with yet another party at step 650.

The number of long positions need not correspond to the number of short positions undertaken. Potential investors may choose to combine different numbers of contrary positions on the same or different instruments as they see fit in order to create a hedged instrument. Any suitable contrary positions on any suitable instrument(s) may be combined to create a tradable instrument that may be traded by any participant within a market.

The Following are not Claims:

1. A market for trading hedged instruments, the market comprising at least one hedged instrument;

wherein the value of the hedged instrument is based at least on:

-   -   a first position on a first tradable instrument; and     -   a second position on a second tradable instrument, the second         position being contrary to the first position.

2. The market of claim 1, wherein the first tradable instrument and the second tradable instrument relate to a single class of instruments.

3. The market of claim 1, wherein the first tradable instrument and the second tradable instrument relate to a single tradable instrument.

4. The market of claim 1, wherein the first tradable instrument is a derivative of the second tradable instrument.

5. The market of claim 1, wherein the hedged instrument has a price comprising a service fee plus the net value of the first and the second positions.

6. The market of claim 1, wherein the hedged instrument has a payoff comprising the combined payoffs of the first position and the second position.

7. The market of claim 1, wherein:

the first position on the first tradable instrument comprises a long position on a first bond; and

the second position on the second tradable instrument comprises a short position on a second bond.

8. The market of claim 7, wherein:

the first bond and the second bond are issued by the same corporation; and

the first bond has a different maturity date than the second bond.

9. The market of claim 1, wherein:

the first position on the first tradable instrument comprises a purchased call option on a first share or shares of stock; and

the second position on the second tradable instrument comprises a sold call option on a second share or shares of stock.

10. The market of claim 9, wherein:

the first share or shares of stock and the second share or shares of stock are shares of the same stock; and

the purchased call option has a lower strike price than the sold call option.

11. The market of claim 1, wherein:

the first position on the first tradable instrument comprises a long position on a first futures contract; and

the second position on the second tradable instrument comprises a short position on a second futures contract.

12. The market of claim 1, wherein the hedged instrument comprises a futures contract.

13. The market of claim 12, wherein:

the first position on the first tradable instrument comprises a long position on a stock; and

the second position on the second tradable instrument comprises a short position on a tradable fund.

14. The market of claim 12, wherein:

the first position on the first tradable instrument comprises a long position on a stock; and

the second position on the second tradable instrument comprises a tradable instrument based at least on a plurality of stocks within an investment sector.

15. The market of claim 1, wherein:

the hedged instrument comprises a futures contract;

the first position on the at least a first tradable instrument comprises a long position which corresponds with the price of a first tradable instrument; and

the second position on the at least a second tradable instrument comprises a short position which corresponds with the price of a second tradable instrument.

16. A market for trading hedged instruments, the market comprising at least one hedged futures contract;

wherein the value of the hedged futures contract is based on an index of positions on a plurality of tradable instruments, the positions including:

a first position on a first tradable instrument; and

a second position on a second tradable instrument, the second position being contrary to the first position.

17. The market of claim 16, wherein the first position is a long position and the second position is a short position.

18. The market of claim 17, wherein:

the first tradable instrument comprises a stock; and

the second tradable instrument comprises a tradable fund.

19. The market of claim 17, wherein:

the first tradable instrument comprises a stock; and

the second tradable instrument comprises a tradable instrument based at least on a plurality of stocks within an investment sector.

20. The market of claim 16, wherein:

the hedged futures contract has a maturity time; and

the hedged futures contract may be traded multiple times until the maturity time.

21. The market of claim 16, wherein the hedged futures contract may be traded electronically.

22. A hedged instrument having a value based at least on:

a first position on at least a first tradable instrument; and

a second position on at least a second tradable instrument, the second position being contrary to the first position.

23. The hedged instrument of claim 22, wherein the first tradable instrument and the second tradable instrument relate to a single class of instruments.

24. The hedged instrument of claim 22, wherein the first tradable instrument and the second tradable instrument relate to a single tradable instrument.

25. The hedged instrument of claim 22, wherein the first tradable instrument is a derivative of the second tradable instrument.

26. The hedged instrument of claim 22, wherein the hedged instrument has a price comprising a service fee plus the net value of the first and the second positions.

27. The hedged instrument of claim 22, wherein the hedged instrument has a payoff comprising the combined payoffs of the first position and the second position.

28. The hedged instrument of claim 22, wherein:

the first position on the first tradable instrument comprises a long position on a first bond; and

the second position on the second tradable instrument comprises a short position on a second bond.

29. The hedged instrument of claim 22, wherein:

the first position on the first tradable instrument comprises a purchased call option on a first share stock; and

the second position on the second tradable instrument comprises a sold call option on a second share or shares of stock.

30. The hedged instrument of claim 22, wherein:

the first position on the first tradable instrument comprises a long position on a first futures contract; and

the second position on the second tradable instrument comprises a short position on a second futures contract.

31. The hedged instrument of claim 22, wherein the hedged instrument comprises a futures contract.

32. The hedged instrument of claim 31, wherein:

the first position on the first tradable instrument comprises a long position on a stock; and

the second position on the second tradable instrument comprises a short position on a tradable fund.

33. The hedged instrument of claim 31, wherein:

the first position on the first tradable instrument comprises a long position on a stock; and

the second position on the second tradable instrument comprises a tradable instrument based at least on a plurality of stocks within an investment sector.

34. The hedged instrument of claim 22, wherein:

the hedged instrument comprises a futures contract;

the first position on the at least a first tradable instrument comprises a long position which corresponds with the price of a first tradable instrument; and

the second position on the at least a second tradable instrument comprises a short position which corresponds with the price of a second tradable instrument.

35. A hedged futures contract, comprising:

a value based on an index of positions on a plurality of tradable instruments, the positions including:

-   -   a first position on a first tradable instrument; and     -   a second position on a second tradable instrument, the second         position being contrary to the first position.

36. The hedged instrument of claim 35, wherein the first position is a long position and the second position is a short position.

37. The hedged instrument of claim 36, wherein:

the first tradable instrument comprises a stock; and

the second tradable instrument comprises a tradable fund.

38. The hedged instrument of claim 36, wherein:

the first tradable instrument comprises a stock; and

the second tradable instrument comprises a tradable instrument based at least on a plurality of stocks within an investment sector.

39. The hedged instrument of claim 35, wherein:

the hedged futures contract has a maturity time; and

the hedged futures contract may be traded multiple times until the maturity time.

40. The hedged instrument of claim 35, wherein the hedged futures contract may be traded electronically.

41. A method for providing a hedged instrument, the method comprising:

identifying a first position on a first tradable instrument;

identifying a second position on a second tradable instrument, the second position being contrary to the first position;

undertaking the first position and the second position; and

creating a hedged instrument including the first position and the second position.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein identifying the first position and the second position comprises identifying a first position and a second position relating to the same class of instruments.

43. The method of claim 41, wherein identifying the first position and the second position comprises identifying a first position and a second position relating to a single tradable instrument.

44. The method of claim 41, wherein the first tradable instrument is a derivative of the second tradable instrument.

45. The method of claim 41, further comprising selling the hedged instrument for a price.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein the price comprises a service fee plus the net value of the first and the second positions.

47. The method of claim 45, further comprising returning a payoff to a buyer of the hedged instrument, the payoff based on the combined payoffs of the first position and the second position.

48. The method of claim 41, further comprising binding a buyer of the hedged instrument to purchase the hedged instrument without binding the buyer of the hedged instrument to the first position or the second position.

49. The method of claim 41, wherein:

identifying a first position on a first tradable instrument comprises identifying a long position on a first bond; and

identifying a second position on a second tradable instrument comprises identifying a short position on a second bond.

50. The method of claim 41, wherein:

undertaking the first position comprises buying a call option on a first share or shares of stock; and

undertaking the second position comprises selling a call option on a second share or shares of stock.

51. The method of claim 41, wherein:

the first position on the first tradable instrument comprises a long position on a first futures contract; and

the second position on the second tradable instrument comprises a short position on a second futures contract.

52. The method of claim 41, wherein the hedged instrument comprises a futures contract.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein:

the first position on the first tradable instrument comprises a long position on a stock; and

the second position on the second tradable instrument comprises a short position on a tradable fund.

54. The method of claim 52, wherein:

the first position on the first tradable instrument comprises a long position on a stock; and

the second position on the second tradable instrument comprises a tradable instrument based at least on a plurality of stocks within an investment sector.

55. The method of claim 41, wherein:

the hedged instrument comprises a futures contract;

the first position on the at least a first tradable instrument comprises a long position which corresponds with the price of a first tradable instrument; and

the second position on the at least a second tradable instrument comprises a short position which corresponds with the price of a second tradable instrument.

56. A method for providing a hedged futures contract, the method comprising:

identifying a first position on a first tradable instrument;

identifying a second position on a second tradable instrument, the second position being contrary to the first position;

creating an index comprising the first position and the second position;

creating a hedged futures contract having a value based on the index.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein the first position is a long position and the second position is a short position.

58. The method of claim 57, wherein:

the first tradable instrument comprises a stock; and

the second tradable instrument comprises a tradable fund.

59. The method of claim 57, wherein:

the first tradable instrument comprises a stock; and

the second tradable instrument comprises a tradable instrument based at least on a plurality of stocks within an investment sector.

60. The method of claim 56, wherein:

the hedged futures contract has a maturity time; and

the hedged futures contract may be traded multiple times until the maturity time.

61. The method of claim 56, wherein the hedged futures contract may be traded electronically.

These examples are merely illustrative of the principles of the present invention and the various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, which is limited only by the claims that follow. 

1. A market for trading hedged instruments, the market comprising at least one hedged instrument; wherein the value of the hedged instrument is based at least on: a first position on a first tradable instrument; and a second position on a second tradable instrument, the second position being contrary to the first position. 